As a process for producing aliphatic nitrites, there are generally known industrial processes in which an aliphatic carboxylic acid or a derivative thereof is reacted with ammonia. The methods used in the reaction for producing the aliphatic nitrites are generally classified into a gas phase method and a liquid phase method. In the reaction conducted by the liquid phase method, there has been extensively used such a process in which the carboxylic acid or the derivative thereof is dissolved under heating, and then ammonia is blown into the obtained solution to react these compounds with each other in the presence of a catalyst by a batch method or a continuous method.
In the case where the reaction is conducted by such a liquid phase method, there are known processes for producing the aliphatic nitrites by using a catalyst such as, for example, zinc oxide or an iron compound. Also, there are disclosed the process for producing aliphatic nitriles using a composite oxide composed of titanium oxide and an oxide of at least one element selected from the group consisting of silicon, niobium, zirconium, tantalum, gallium and germanium as a catalyst (refer to JP 2000-80069A and JP 2000-80070A), the process for producing aliphatic nitrites using titanium oxide supported on solid silica as a catalyst (refer to JP 2005-89361A), etc.
However, in recent years, there is a demand for conducting these conventional production processes with a still higher reactivity.